News in Thai

“News” in Thai is ข่าวkàao; you'll also hear ข่าวสารkàao-sǎan (formal).

ข่าว kàao

news noun

kàao low

Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.

ข่าวสาร kàao-sǎan

news, information (formal) noun

kàao low
sǎan rising

Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”

How to use it

ข่าวkàao is news: you ดูข่าวduu kàao, watch the news, or อ่านข่าวàan kàao, read it, and good and bad news are ข่าวดีkàao dii and ข่าวร้ายkàao ráai. A journalist is a นักข่าวnák-kàao, a rumour is a ข่าวลือkàao-luue, and fake news is ข่าวปลอมkàao bplawm. ข่าวสารkàao-sǎan, news and information, is the formal word of notices and websites.

Mind the tone: ข่าวkàao is low, while ข้าวkâao, rice, falls.

Don't mix it up

ข้าวkâao

rice; a meal

Falling tone: rice.

Other spellings you'll see

There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:

khao
kaow
khaw
kao

More news and society in Thai

All news and society

กลุ่ม glùm Group
สังคม sǎng-kom Society
ผล pǒn Result
result, outcome
ระบบ rá-bòp System
มาตรา mâat-dtraa Section (of a law)
section, article (of a law)
ระดับ rá-dàp Level
level, grade

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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones